Oklahoma legislators are in the midst of more than a hundred interim studies, and Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays caught up with Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association’s Executive Vice President, Michael Kelsey to talk about the ones that may impact cattle producers.

Kelsey listed several interim studies that OCA is watching including some concerning water, taxes – namely one related to ad valorem tax, cattle theft, and an interesting one that was just completed regarding type two diabetes in Oklahoma and how beef can be beneficial to those suffering from it.

“Representative [Clay] Staires, of Skiatook, wanted to look at how much type 2 diabetes is costing the state of Oklahoma, and potential solutions that we are already good at,” Kelsey explained. “We are good at the beef industry here in Oklahoma, so if people could incorporate beef into their diets appropriately, could that be positive towards type 2 diabetes?”

He detailed how water would be a big issue in the upcoming Winter Policy Meeting, with plans to tweak the current policy to reflect a landowner’s perspective better. Alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar, specific to tax policy will also be topics of discussion.

“As landowners, we have roles in those types of alternative energy,” Kelsey said. “Discussions can be quite emotional for both of those as far as for and against. I’m not talking about the property rights piece of it, although that is a very important piece of both solar and wind, but tax policy will be in the discussion.”

The electricity transmission line proposed to cross northern Oklahoma as green energy makes its way eastward across the state is also on OCA’s radar. “This one has a lot of moving parts and pieces and challenges to it. Our interest is eminent domain, and how it impacts landowners in that structure. We are very involved in that one and watching it closely,” Kelsey said. “I know there has been a bill on the federal level that has been filed, but hasn’t been passed, that would not allow the federal government to use eminent domain for transmission lines and some of those types of things.”

He finished by saying that the lame-duck situation in Washington at this time will likely put that decision off until sometime beyond January 2025.

The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR at the top of the story for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.

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